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In a major blow to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Mark Wood, the England speedster, has been ruled out of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 due to an elbow injury.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has informed the Lucknow franchise about Wood’s injury. Notably, the right-arm pacer picked up a right elbow injury during the first Test against West Indies in Antigua last week.
Wood was roped in by Super Giants for INR 7.5 crore (USD 1 million approx.) at the mega IPL auction, held in February.
Wood is not the first English player to miss the upcoming fifteenth season after being bought by IPL franchises. In February, England opener Jason Roy had pulled out of IPL 2022, citing the challenge of staying in the tournament bubble for an extended period.
Roy was signed by the newly-added IPL team, Gujarat Titans (GT), for his base price of INR 2 crore at the mega auction. It was also revealed that the Gujarat franchise recruited Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of Roy.
Similarly, Alex Hales has recently decided to withdraw from the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league, stating bubble fatigue and his mental well-being as the prime reasons to pull out. Hales was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 1.5 crore at the two-day bidding event. The two-time champions picked Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch as a replacement for Hales.
The Super Giants will start their IPL 2022 campaign against Gujarat on March 28 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
LSG squad for IPL 2022:
KL Rahul (captain), Ravi Bishnoi, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, B Sai Sudarshan.